US-listed Scorpio Tankers has clinched a record charter rate for an MR ship at the same time as locking in firm prices to offload two vessels from its fleet.
The Emanuele Lauro-led company said it has fixed out the 50,000-dwt STI Jardins (built 2018) for three years at $29,950 per day.
This equates to a whopping $32.8m over the full period and is believed to be the best-ever such rate for a non-scrubber eco MR, market sources tell TradeWinds.
Eco spot rates are currently $28,400 per day in the Atlantic basin, down 24% in a month.
The charterer is an unnamed oil major and the time charter is expected to start this quarter or in the final three months of 2024.
BRS quotes one-year deals for eco MRs at $30,000 per day, with three years at $27,000, or $28,500 with a scrubber.
These rates have been on a downward trend, according to the shipbroker.
While Scorpio is traditionally a spot player, the company has been increasing its time-charter book to lock in some of the peak earnings available in the present upcycle.
Sources say as many as a dozen of the company’s vast fleet now have contract coverage in place.
Scorpio also confirmed a TradeWinds report on Tuesday that it had sold two MR ships built in 2014.
The 50,000-dwt scrubber-fitted STI San Antonio and STI Texas City have gone for $42.5m each.
The eye-catching price was above broker reports of $41m each for the South Korean-built ships.
A buyer has not been revealed.
The company has sold a number of the older ships in its fleet this year as it rode a strong product tanker market where asset prices are robust.
But it has not joined the product tanker newbuilding drive, in which contracting is running at close to record levels.
Scorpio is traditionally a spot player, but it has been increasing its time charter coverage to lock in some of the higher rates on offer.
